Crime stats reveal assaults spike

There has been a surge in the number of assaults in north-east Victoria, driven mostly by a continuing increase in domestic violence, according to the latest crime statistics.

Victoria Police figures for 2013 for the Goulburn Valley and Wodonga divisions have revealed a more than 15 per cent increase in assaults last year.

In the Goulburn Valley, that was mainly driven by family violence, with Wangaratta also recording a jump in domestic assaults.

In contrast, an almost 7 per cent rise in assaults in the Wodonga region was largely due to a rise in non-family violence.

Wodonga-based Inspector Tony Davis says in more than 30 per cent of those cases, the offender was under the age of 18 and alcohol and drugs were often involved.

In other results, car thefts and burglaries were mostly down across the north-east.

The statistics reveal crime has dropped significantly in Wodonga in the past 12 months, bucking the regional trend.

Wodonga's crime rate fell 13 per cent in the past year. It was largely driven by a drop in property offences, including a 26 per cent decrease in commercial burglaries and a 43 per cent fall in the number of cars stolen.

Inspector Davis says the reduction was due to the success of targeted police operations, especially in relation to repeat offenders.

Conversely, crime rose by more than 5 per cent in the Goulburn Valley and Wangaratta divisions. In both cases the increase was due to a significant surge in the number of assaults related to domestic violence.

Inspector Dave Ryan says police are looking at how to change the community's attitude to family violence, which continues unabated.

"We're doing a large piece of work here at Wangaratta, detailed research, around three years of history, looking at what led to these assaults occurring then we'll be able to tailor our policing response to try to ... [determine] what those causal factors are," he said.

"Yes we're taking an enforcement approach to it, every single occasion, what we're trying to build on is our proactive response to prevent the harm before it occurs."